Context: Physical and Psycho-cultural: A design for the concert hall in Sarajevo, Bosnia by Enno Fritsch Diplom Ingenieur University of Karlsruhe, 1996 Submitted to the Department of Architecture in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Architecture Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology June 2001 @2001 Enno Fritsch. All Rights Reserved The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part. Signature of Author: Department of Architecture May 24, 2001 Certified by: Michael Dennis Professor of Architecture ~~Thesis Supervso5,-i I7 Received by: Roy Strickland USSRARHERS USTRWE Principal Research Scientist in Architecture Chairman, Department Committee on Graduate Students LIBRARIES Readers Julian Beinart Professor of Architecture Ann Pendleton-Jullian Associate Professor of Architecture Context: Physical and Psycho-Cultural: A Design for the Concert Hall in Sarajevo, Bosnia by Enno Fritsch Submitted to the Department of Architecture on May 24, 2001 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Architecture Studies ABSTRACT The thesis proposes a mode of designing that emphasizes the active role that the physical context, including its embedded cultural implications and poetic ideas, might play in the process of architectural design. A successful architec- tural project in that sense would not only be visually related to its context in a meaningful way, but its form giving conceptual framework would be part of an idea about the site and its relation to the context. Three different modes of architectural inquiry mutually inform each other. While the discussion of contextual theory, namely Contextualism and Phenomenology, seeks to ground the making of reflected contextual references in its underlying cultural and philosophical value systems, the design component not only tested contextual design strategies, but, more importantly, shaped the mode of the theoretical inquiry. Together with case studies that cover a broad spectrum of different contexts and their architectural responses, they identified the critical issue of balancing between the normative urban space and the site specific components. Thesis Supervisor: Michael Dennis Title: Professor of Architecture TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction 2 On Context 2.1 Context: Physical and Cultural 2.2 Contexualism 2.3 Phenomenology 2.4 Case Studies 3 Design for the Concert Hall in Sarajevo 3.1 Critique of the 1998 Competition 3.2 Alternative Site, Program, Studies 3.3 Final Proposal for the New Concert Hall Bibliography Illustration Credits 8 INTRODUCTION I am interested in the presence of the cultural continuities of our time, rather than in inventions and projections into the future. A piece of art or music, poetry or architecture, that is centuries old, will strike me as fresh and inspiring, while some of our contemporary cultural productions, driven to be innovative and exciting, appear out dated and dull, being trapped in a one dimensional Zeitgeist. The focus on changing social, economic and cultural conditions, along with the excitement created by increased computational power, blends out the layer of consistent cultural values. As human beings, we are both formed and sustained by both worlds: the existing and the emerging one, and it is my conviction that architecture should reflect that notion. 1 Although I welcome change and am curious about the future, it is the link between the changing and stable elements of the past that I want to emphasize. It is my assumption that this nodal point is an essential element in the creation of meaning in architecture. One method of applying this way of thinking to architectural design consists of interpreting the physical context as an accumulated cultural history. The program balances this notion by addressing the contemporary needs and functions, while it also relates to its cultural history and building types associated with it. Conse- quently, the central thesis of this work demonstrates how one might think about the relation between the physical context of an architectural project and its program. This idea contrasts with the prevailing notion that in the design process only the program is the active part, stimulating ideas, images and concepts, while the physical context requires only adjustments to the concept relative to the inert physical boundaries and their material properties. I propose a mode of designing that emphasizes the active role that the physical context, including its embedded cultural implications and poetic ideas, might play as an equal partner in the design process. Ideally, the programmatic and the contextual design components overlay to create a building whose spatial and conceptual properties become continuous with an idea for its context. My thoughts on the reflected use of contextual references is related to and inspired by an existing body of theory about context and its inherent value sys- tems, namely Contextualism and Phenomenology. These value systems includ- ing their implications on design are the common ground on which I will discuss a diverse range of successful contextual projects. While this research is valuable in itself, it also can be regarded as a tool that facilitates the design process. Therefore, the thesis contains a design component, which is not so much an illustration of the theory, but a way to test and to modify it. The questions gener- ated by dealing with a specific site and a given program have shaped the mode of the theoretical inquiry thus creating mutual cross references between theory and design. The advantage of combining these two forms of architectural reflec- tion lies in the balancing of their contrasting directionality. While a goal oriented design process consists of a series of exclusions in order to generate a focused solution, a theoretical inquiry expands a proposition to outline a field by including a broad range of related topics. In other words, the design task has evoked the framing of contextual references under the overarching concepts of Contextualism and Phenomenology. Concurrently the theory has informed the way in which different alternatives were generated and evaluated. Design projects and theoretical reflections are both non-linear processes, af- fected by individual and communal circumstances. Therefore the degree in which they overlay and interact cannot be prescribed. Nevertheless, through a theory of physical context as an element of cultural continuity, architectural design becomes a mode of understanding our spatial and temporal position in the world. I Insome cases either the free exploration of unknown territory, or strict references to the past might be appropriate, depending on location and intention. 2The quality of this link might be metaphorically described as a dialogue, in which the parties not only state their contrasting views, but also relate the framing of their thoughts to what was previously said in order to outline mental bridges that facilitate understanding. Requiring awareness, flexibility and mental alertness, the scarcity of this happening in actual communication corresponds to the rarity of finding architecture inthis sense. 3Given that historical styles have lost their meaning and that new formal inventions or idiosyncratic languages only possess a limited scope of meaning. ON CONTEXT Part 1: Context: Physical and Cultural "The entire secret of designing is the conscious insertion of a building in the community of what exists." Heinz Wetzel1 This statement by the remote figure Heinz Wetzel who taught urban design at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, in the first half of the 2 0th century, summarizes the impact of context on architectural design. Its usefulness in beginning a discussion regarding context lies in its direct implications, which begin to sketch a fragmentary theory about context. Moreover, it has the potential to be aug- mented to point to the two most important bodies of contextual theory: Contextualism and Phenomenology. By summarizing their central contents and their underlying values, I will outline the broad spectrum of the philosophical, cultural and urban implications that are imbedded in the idea of contextual refer- ences. Differing in content as well as intent, both Contextualism and Phenom- enology nevertheless deal with related questions that overlap depending on the circumstances. Wetzel's description of the relation between context and architecture is remark- able for four fundamental reasons. First, he emphasizes the role of the designer, who makes well informed and thought out decisions to achieve a "conscious insertion". The implied awareness, possibly alertness, of the architect who determines the appropriate reaction, contrasts the common perception of contex- tual references being limited to the simplistic extrusion of the context happening by default. Second, describing the context as a "community of what exists" refers to the social and cultural dimensions that are embedded in the physical context, which further deepens the understanding of contextual references. Furthermore, Wetzel's statement outlines the fundamental problem facing a contextual attitude when the context is not a "community that exists", but a random agglomeration of buildings, programs and infrastructure.2 The less a context can be qualified as a community, the more architecture has to emphasize its autonomy by means of contrast,